Music at the Museum

2025 PROGRAMME

50th Season

All concerts take place at the Victorian Hall, Dorset Museum & Art Gallery, 66 High West St, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 1XA

WEDNESDAY 26 FEBRUARY 7.30pm

IGNAS MAKNICKAS Piano

A YCAT artist and prize winner in numerous international competitions, Ignas’s work as a soloist has led him to perform extensively in the UK, including a recital at the Wigmore Hall, and in venues around the world.

Programme

  • SCHUBERT Sonata in A major, D. 664 
  • CHOPIN Polonaise-Fantasie Op. 61
  • RAVEL Valses nobles et sentimentales
  • CHOPIN Waltz in A minor Op. 34 No.2 Grande valse
  • CHOPIN Waltz in C-sharp Minor Op. 64 No.1 & 2
  • CHOPIN Waltz in E flat Op. 18 Grande valse brillante

Early Schubert and mature Ravel set alongside works by ‘the pianist’s piano composer’ ranging from the tender and intimate to the grandly extrovert.

https://www.ignasmaknickas.com

WEDNESDAY 26 MARCH 7.30pm

POCKET SINFONIA

“In terms of sheer energy, the palm must go to Pocket Sinfonia, who managed to make Mozart’s brilliant Haffner Symphony burst with the vitality of an orchestra”   

The Telegraph

Programme to include

  • MOZART Symphony No. 41 in C major K 551 ‘Jupiter’
  • BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 6 in F major ‘Pastoral’ 
  • music by HAYDN and PLEYEL
A fascinating view of classical orchestral works as they will have been experienced in early 19th century provincial England.

WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 7.30pm

AMBER EMSON Violin

LEAH NICHOLSON Piano

‘These two prodigiously talented young musicians are both multi-award winners with stellar careers ahead of them.”   

Simon Barrow  

Programme

  • BEETHOVEN Violin Sonata No. 3 in G major Op. 30
  • BRAHMS Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major Op. 100
  • L BOULANGER 2 Morceaux: Nocturne and Cortège
  • FRANCK Sonata for violin and piano in A major 

Two great sonatas both composed in 1886, together with Beethoven defying incipient deafness, and work by a female composer who died tragically young.

amberemson.com

https://www.ypf.nl/en/contestant/leah-nicholson

WEDNESDAY 21 MAY 7.30pm

TRIO ARCHAI Piano Trio

Winners of the 72nd Royal Over-Seas League Competition, 2024.

“The attention to detail, and the wonderfully warm, fresh, yet mature playing makes an audience cheer and go home happy.”

Schaffhauser Nachrichten

Programme

  • MENDELSSOHN Piano Trio in C minor
  • BLOCH Three Nocturnes 
  • SCHUBERT Piano Trio No. 1 in Bb major D898

The ‘other’ Mendelssohn trio, Bloch’s warmly romantic nocturnes and surely one of the greatest of all piano trios.

trioarchai.com

WEDNESDAY 25 JUNE 7.30pm

LUMAS WIND QUINTET

Winners of the 71st Royal Over-Seas League Competition, 2023.

“The playing was wonderful, the balance impeccable… The performance was illuminating.”

Charles Hutch Press.

Programme

  • COLEMAN Afro-Cuban Concerto
  • SHOSTAKOVICH Suite for Wind Quintet arr. Booth NIELSEN Wind Quintet Op. 43
  • REICHA Wind Quintet in Eb major Op. 88 No.2 
  • MILHAUD La Cheminée du Roi René Op. 205 
  • LALO SCHIFRIN La Nouvelle Orléans

A wide-ranging programme of wind quintet standards alongside quirky, highly entertaining modern works.

lumaswinds.com

WEDNESDAY 23 JULY 7.30pm

FIBONACCI QUARTET

The Fibonacci Quartet is one of the most exciting young quartets in both the UK and Europe, having won numerous major competitions and awards here and abroad.

Programme

  • HAYDN String Quartet in Bb Op.76 No. 4 ‘Sunrise’
  • JANACEK String Quartet No. 2 ‘Intimate Letters’
  • SMETANA String Quartet No. 1 in E minor ‘From my Life’

A late Haydn masterpiece together with two deeply-felt ‘autobiographical’ works from the rich Czech tradition.  

fibonacciquartet.com


This concert will be preceded by the AGM at 7.00pm

Single tickets

Adults £20. Young persons in full time education: £5. Tickets can be purchased online here FROM 1st JANUARY 2025

There will be a small service charge added to the cost of each purchase. The seating capacity of the Victorian Hall is only 120, therefore it is advisable to buy tickets in advance. However, any remaining tickets will be for sale on the door on the evening of each concert.

Membership

The full membership subscription for all six concerts in the 2025 Season is £90.00.

Applications and payment in advance would be very much appreciated and will avoid disappointment in the event that we are over-subscribed.

Please follow this link for further information:

Applying for membership 2025

Subject to numbers (the Museum seating capacity is 120) membership can also be obtained on the night of the first concert. We can accept cash, debit and credit cards.